Resident Companies

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There’s No Place Like Home

For the 10 resident arts organizations that call Overture home, there’s no place quite like it. Overture offers a unique opportunity for resident companies to build a devoted fan base, yet curate an innovative offering year after year. Though each company programs its own season, tickets are available through the Overture Center ticket office and website.

Resident Companies:

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society performs its summer chamber music festival at Overture Center, the historic Stoughton Opera House, and in Hillside Theater at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin. Each June, BDDS performs six different programs (twice), and three educational programs, for a total of 15 powerful concerts. Combining both locally and nationally-known guest artists, new and traditional chamber music, and delightful surprises, BDDS presents chamber music as the “serious fun” that has become their hallmark. Madisonians attest that BDDS is the highlight of their summer.

CTM’s mission is to create vibrant theater experiences that engage, educate and inspire young people and their communities.

For the last 49 continuous seasons, CTM has produced over 200 plays for young audiences with a total audience reach of over 400,000 young people and their families. CTM is the only youth-focused resident company of the Overture Center for the Arts and produces five mainstage productions each year, runs a year-round drama school, and offers multiple educational outreach programs including the acclaimed Young Playwrights Program and Festival. By casting adult and child actors in professionally produced plays, we have occupied a unique niche, since 1965, as Madison’s theater for all ages.

Forward Theater Company is a professional, not-for-profit theater company that produces three contemporary plays each year, in addition to offering monologue festivals and premieres of original works.

Forward was founded on a commitment to the cultural fabric of the Madison community, and works to provide locally produced, exceptional theater experiences for area audiences and give professional actors, designers, and directors who live in the area an artistic home. The company is also committed to the civic life of Madison, with strong outreach efforts and partnerships with community groups and educational programs.

Kanopy Dance Company presents new original dance and historical masterworks by its Artistic Directors, local, national, and international choreographers; all linked by the desire to create modern dance and dance-theatre that is engaging, dramatic, beautiful, thought-provoking — revealing the landscape of the human heart. Founded in 1976, Kanopy has been under the artistic direction of Robert E. Cleary and Lisa Thurrell since 1995. Kanopy Dance Company is a strong regional presence in the Midwest. Receiving numerous awards and grants year after year, Cleary and Thurrell create and commission new works for Kanopy Dance. They have attracted national and international dancers and choreographers to create premiers, and re-stage dances and physical-theater works for Kanopy Dance

Li Chiao-Ping Dance (LCPD) was founded by Artistic Director Li Chiao-Ping in 1990 and has been performing in Dane County, Wisconsin since 1995. The company produces three major performances each year and offers workshops and touring programs throughout North America. LCPD is dedicated to producing programs of emotionally charged and athletic works with striking visual design and the music of contemporary composers. Li Chiao-Ping Dance is also committed to making dance accessible to a wide variety of people – both as audience members and as participants. The company collaborates with K-12 schools schools to offer free performances for kids and continues to teach movement workshops at senior center communities

Brilliant. Beautiful. Ballet. Madison Ballet brings a fresh and entertaining look at the art of classical ballet. Best known for its dazzling production of the holiday classic, The Nutcracker, each season is filled with unforgettable performances. From the original steampunk rock ballet, Dracula, to the jazzy Expressions, Artistic Director W. Earle Smith creates ballets that thrill dance fans and new audience members alike.

Deeply rooted in its community for over 30 years, Madison Ballet provides exceptional arts experiences for individuals of all ages through its professional performances, engaging outreach programs, and the highly-regarded School of Madison Ballet.

Founded in 1961, Madison Opera is one of only three professional opera companies in Wisconsin. It presents an annual season of three mainstage productions, ranging from classic operas to modern masterpieces, and a vast array of engagement activities for both adults and youth. Its annual free summer concert, Opera in the Park, has the highest per capita attendance of any similar event in the U.S.

The Madison Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1926, enriches the cultural and educational environment of south-central Wisconsin with a full season of high quality concerts featuring established and emerging soloists of international renown, an organ series that includes free concerts, and nationally recognized education and community engagement programs. Under the artistic leadership of Music Director John DeMain (hailed as “a gifted orchestra builder” by the New York Times), the Symphony has grown to be one of America’s leading regional orchestras and continues to educate and entertain audiences of all ages, while advocating for music as a universal language of expression and understanding.)

The James Watrous Gallery’s primary focus is the work of contemporary Wisconsin visual artists. We also present exhibitions that explore the history of art in Wisconsin or topics that bridge the sciences, arts, and humanities. Our goals are to support Wisconsin visual art and artists through quality exhibitions and programs, to provide opportunities for viewers to actively engage in the visual arts, and to encourage a spirit of inquiry. The gallery is a program of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, an independent, nonprofit organization that seeks to inspire discovery, illuminate creative work, and foster civil dialogue.

The James Watrous Gallery closes for up to two weeks between exhibitions. Before your visit, please call 608-265-2500 or check the gallery’s Current Exhibition Page to be sure it will be open.

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s core purpose is to provide programs of the highest artistic quality while building a better, stronger, more vibrant community through the transformative power of music. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra regularly reaches over 200,000 people annually at our Concerts on the Square, Masterworks Series, Pops Series, and Salon Series concerts. From our beginnings as the Madison Summer Symphony Orchestra started in 1960 by Gordon G. Wright, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra has delivered the finest music-making Madison and Dane County has to offer, reaching the largest audience of any of Madison’s world-class performing arts organizations.

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Studies show that children who are exposed to the arts enjoy greater success in school and go on to become more creative, productive employees in adulthood….also, it’s almost winter, and you will want to get them out of the house!